World Oral Health Day Awards

Criteria for eligibility

FDI relies on the power of local and national campaigns to activate World Oral Health Day (WOHD) globally. Every year on or around 20 March, hundreds of events are organized around the world in celebration of WOHD. Empowered by a common goal to reduce the burden of oral diseases, the oral health community comes together year after year to organize free dental check-ups, school activities, educational lectures, awareness walks, flash mobs, and more in the name of WOHD.

FDI commends the hard work of WOHD enthusiasts across the world and wants to let them know that their efforts are valued. This is why, every year, FDI gives out the World Oral Health Day Awards to recognize those who organized the most outstanding campaigns. The awards are divided in five categories to reward the work of FDI members, students, and the public.

The award categories

National Dental Associations

The following two categories are for FDI Members only (i.e. National Dental Associations, or other organizations, with some type of membership – see full list here).

Exception: Student associations are excluded from these two categories – even if they hold FDI membership – as they are addressed exclusively in two other categories further below.

1.Most educational activity

This award recognizes hands-on contributions to increase oral health literacy among the public through school programmes, educational lectures, awareness campaigns, etc. The evaluation is based on the following criteria:

Number of activities (including their complexity and variety)

Number of participants (served members of the community and partner organizations)

Collaboration with government officials

Distribution of take-home resources for oral health literacy

National impact through traditional or online media coverage

Use of the WOHD theme and/or materials

Event submission to global WOHD map

2.Best media campaign

This award recognizes WOHD campaigns that generate significant buzz in traditional or online media, highlighting oral health messages across a range of platforms such as newspaper, television, radio, blogs, social media, etc. The evaluation is based on the following criteria:

Number of participants at press conference, if organized

Number of news articles generated by activities (promotion and coverage)

4.Best social media campaign

This award recognizes campaigns that successfully put WOHD on the digital spotlight and engage people to join the conversation on oral health and share the campaign messages on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The evaluation is based on the following criteria:

The public

The following category is open to all groups and individuals – not associated with FDI – organizing a WOHD event (i.e. the general public, non-member organizations, etc.). To be considered for the award, participants should submit their activity reports to the global events map following WOHD here). Think the link will be different for the activity reports – let’s discuss further into the campaign

5.Best branded photo

This award celebrates the best use of the WOHD brand in a single snapshot, visually engaging the audience and inspiring others to also show they are advocates of oral health. The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

Use of WOHD logo

Use of WOHD theme

Innovation and originality in the use of the WOHD brand

Visibility of other WOHD materials at event (posters, brochures, etc.)

Good quality photo (1200 x 1800 pixels)

Event submission to global WOHD map

The prize

After 20 March, FDI collects activity reports from all three audiences (members, students and the public) to determine the winners for each category. Recommendations are then made to the WOHD Task Team – a group of oral health experts guiding and supervising the campaign – who will select the winners based on the above criteria. The winners are informed, usually in May, and the announcement is made public at the World Dental Congress in September.

The prize for members and student associations (categories number one through four) includes:

One free registration to attend the World Dental Congress

Roundtrip flight and accommodation for the full duration of the congress